Correlation between serum vascular endothelial growth factor and endostatin levels in patients with breast cancer

Serum vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and endostatin levels were detected in 59 patients with breast cancer before surgery and at 3 weeks after surgery. Pre-operatively, their levels were significantly elevated and correlated with each other. Post-operatively, VEGF level decreased significantly and endostatin remained at a high level. Patients with both normalized VEGF and elevated endostatin following surgery had a lower risk of relapse than patients whose VEGF failed to normalize. Univariate and multivariate analyses showed a correlation between elevated VEGF level and short free-relapse survival. These findings suggest a new angiogenesis balance is formed in the patients after surgery and such a resultant balance may be beneficial for the prognosis of breast cancer, which deserves more extensive study. (C) 2003 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.